The Human House of Loki
by Lessie Daymon
Summary: Human AU. Here is a, Midgardian spin on Sigyn and Loki's family. Without fate, without Ragnarok, unburdened by anything but quite a few illegitimate children. How do you raise six kids when only one is 'yours? Sigyn is self-taught. Loki/Sigyn with Fenrir, Jormungandr, Hel, Sleipnir, Vali, and Narfi.
1. A Morning in the House of Loki

**I occasionally like to take a break from reality and look at things in a positive light, so here is a Midgardian spin on Sigyn and Loki's family. Without fate, without Ragnarok, unburdened by anything but perhaps quite a few illegitimate children.**

I present to you- A Morning in the House of Loki

* * *

"Fenrir, leave Sleipnir alone. Don't you remember having braces?"

The younger sibling was in Sigyn's arms before she could tell, and the overburdened mother almost sent two bowls of cereal crashing to the ground as result.

"Mommy, he said I look like a horse!" Sleipnir looked up, teary-eyed, and Sigyn pet a hand through his hair, "I told you, we don't listen to everything everyone says, didn't I?" The boy nodded, and Sigyn hugged him firmly before letting him away, "Do me a favor, sweetheart, make sure- Jormungandr, there you are." The second eldest boy strode into the kitchen, sleep still in his eyes. He and Fenrir shared a look that Sigyn was sure meant trouble to come, and then he waved a hand in lazy greeting to their mother, snatching an apple from where he _knew_ his father saved only for himself, and biting into it as Sigyn opened her mouth to protest.

"M'ning mom," Jormungandr finally spoke with a full mouth, and Sigyn smiled wearily, "Good morning, darling. Is Hel up?"

"She's been in the bathroom for _hours_!" Fenrir complained from across the room, after snatching his bowl of cereal and digging in.

"Right, I shall go get her. If the timer goes off- Sleipnir, sweetie, could you make sure your brothers take lunch out of the oven?" The younger boy nodded with a grin that only came from uncertain control over one's siblings, and Sigyn left the kitchen to knock on one of the bathroom doors.

"Hel, honey, it's just me." The door opened the slightest and Hel was fussing with her hair, pulled in front of half of her face as she tended to force it. Sigyn sighed at the effort and ran her fingers through the sleek, black tresses, pulling them back to reveal the scarred half of Hel's face.

"You look beautiful this morning, is that the new blouse?" Hel met her mother's expression with a look that was half irritation and half gratitude, as she moved forward to free her hair.

"Good morning, mom." She smiled and Sigyn admired how the expression displayed a bit more of her face.

"Good morning, honey. The boys need to brush their teeth."

"...I'll be out in a few minutes, okay?" And as every morning, Sigyn kissed the center of her forehead, lips touching both smooth and scarred skin, "I shall let them know, sweetheart."

Exiting the bathroom, Sigyn almost walked straight into one of her younger boys, Vali's eyes widening as her head bumped against her leg.

"Mm... Morning mommy!" He brightened at the sight and Sigyn swept him into her arms, kissing Vali's cheek, "Good morning, little love." She smiled when the kindergartener's head nuzzled into the crook of her neck, "Not awake yet, sweetie?"

"Nnnn." All the answer she received, and so Sigyn sat Vali down at the counter beside Jormungandr in the kitchen again. Fenrir had pulled the roast out of the oven and was eyeing it in a way that made Sigyn bat his shoulder playfully, smile when he huffed and walked away, "This is lunch, not breakfast, darling. And..." She reached over to smooth down his hair, tousled as a style but one that Sigyn was convinced made Fenrir look far too wolfish.

"Try to comb your hair in the morning, love."

"I did," He grumbled, and retreated to beside Jormungandr as Sigyn turned her back to slice the meat.

A tiny hand tugged on the back of her shirt, and Sigyn set down the knife to kneel at eye level with her youngest boy. Loki stood behind him, already immaculate to leave for work but with a hand on Narfi's shoulder.

"Did you sleep well, morningstar?"

Sigyn smiled wryly, lifting Narfi into her arms and tilting over him to kiss her husband on the lips, "Well enough, moon of my life."

Jormungandr snorted from the counter, and Hel knocked his side for it.

"And how are you, sweetie?" Narfi threw his arms around Sigyn and hid his head in her chest. She looked to Loki.

"He is 'sick'," Loki raised his eyebrows as he spoke, clearly disbelieving. Sigyn ran a hand through Narfi's golden hair and he tilted his head back to look up.

"Mommy, my head hurts..." It was the classic excuse and Sigyn leaned back against the counter, putting a hand against his forehead just in case.

No fever.

"Sweetheart, tell me the truth- Is Móði bothering you again?" Narfi seemed to consider protest, but in a moment nodded solidly and clung to his mother again. Sigyn sighed, "I shall stop by Thor's later..."

"No, leave to me the duty of chiding my brother."

"Loki, if you have another fight..."

"Worry not, my heart." Sigyn's expression softened as Loki smiled disarmingly.

"Well, if you are coming home early enough, would you pick up Fenrir and Jormungandr?"

"This wouldn't be a problem if I had a car," Sigyn and Loki studiously ignored Fenrir's call from across the room.

"I should be able to do that."

"And you will not forget?"

Loki kissed Sigyn again, and Narfi watched the two with a look of scandal that he certainly learned from his elder brothers, "You must learn to put more faith."

"I have had more faith with you than any woman could say to a man," Sigyn whispered to his ear, and Loki's brow raised in the slightest.

"...Yes... I must go- Do go to school, Narfi." He kissed his wife's cheek, patted Narfi on the head, lifted Vali into his seat as he struggled to reach it, clapped Fenrir and Jormungandr on opposite shoulders with a whispered word that made them smirk, ruffled Sleipnir's hair and kissed Hel on the cheek with a loving smile before making it out the door.

* * *

Did you spot the mythology references? First reviewer to get them all may request whatever Sigyn and Loki story they would like to see of me.


	2. Not Their First Fight

Background:

Though Angrboda immediately saddled Loki with both Fenrir and Jormungandr, leaving him to bring the children to his wife, she retained custody of Hel until the girl had reached the age of three. Until then, Loki kept up the lie as if the child did not exist.

Fenrir for this story is six

Jormungandr is four

Hel has just turned three

* * *

Jormungandr crept down the hall, holding a sheet tight around himself and stopping short before the light coming from under his parents' door.

**_"How much is it to ask that my wife trusts me?!"_**

**_"As much as my husband to keep it in his pants for one night!"_**

**_"Do not pretend as if I am never with you!"_**

_"Hey."_

**_"What am I meant to believe?! Every time you return home from one of your 'business' trips- tell me once when you have returned without this news!"_**

_"Hey, Jormungandr. Lil' brother. Come on, over-"_

The younger boy nearly jumped at Fenrir's hand settled on his shoulder, looking up with bright red eyes.

_"What are you doing awake?"_ Elder whispered to younger.

**_"I WILL DO WHAT I WISH, SIGYN!"_**

There was solid silence, followed by a woman's weeping from behind the door, and Fenrir bit his lip. He wrapped an arm around his brother's swaddled shoulders and turned him away from their parents' room, leading him down the hallway.

_"...You've gotta understand, they're gonna be fine, I promise."_ Fenrir was terribly perceptive, unusually bright for his age, and did not mention to his sibling the last time he had been woken by their parents arguing in such a way, _"Sometimes, mommies and daddies fight. But it's not anybody's fault. You got it?"_

Jormungandr was tearing up and Fenrir hugged him tight, the way mother did when one of their particularly stupid stunts ended in a mess.

"Got it?" He pulled back and kept his hands on his brother's shoulders, eyes of a deep green meeting red.

"...yeah..." The black-haired boy raised a fist to his eyes, rubbing at them.

"C'mon," Fenrir whispered, "You can come sleep with me tonight.

* * *

_Thanks for reading. If you have anything specific you'd like to see among these shorts, let me know in a review or message._


	3. Sleipnir

Per request, a bit on how Sleipnir joins the family. I had the toughest time initially deciding how he would appear, given that the myths would have me do a variety of impossible things in this case. As a result, we are diverging quite far from origins with Sleipnir in particular, and I hope this doesn't upset anyone. Do not think I've forgotten other requests, by the way! The Avengers shall make an appearance in the next chapter, I've had quite a time giving them all 'ordinary' identities.

As per usual, leave a review or message me if you'd like to request a specific topic for some chapter.

* * *

"_We were going to have a child of our own..."_

"_And we'll have time for that."_

Loki was in a rush when he returned home from work, quiet (as was usual for Sigyn's husband) but heading straight for the bedroom upon entering the house (far less usual). Fenrir and Jormungandr were stir-crazy waiting for dinner and had commenced a highly competitive game of tag about the living room while Hel sat quietly at the counter, alternating glances at her unruly brothers and harried mother.

Sigyn heard the door shut quietly and Loki's footsteps past the kitchen, but a pot on the stove and children to keep away from it prevented her from following him. The shower running in their bathroom eased her mind for the moment and Hel, ever observant, was leaning around her highchair to peer down the hall.

She stared down the dark space for a while and looked back to her mother, whose back was turned to face the kitchen counter. Then, again, Hel looked to the hallway and thought of speaking.

Slurs and things thrown and "mother is _tired_, be **quiet** Hel" flew to the little girl's mind, and she squirmed in her seat with the indecision. Eventually, curiosity won out and her voice failed her the first time, but then she tried again and the words didn't blister in her throat.

"Mommy, what's wrong with Daddy?"

Sigyn turned around, wiping her hands on a towel and smiled, Hel's voice a rare pleasure to her.

"I don't know, sweetheart," Hel's 'other' mother crossed the kitchen to kiss her on the cheek, and released the little girl from the highchair to lift her up, "Why don't we go find out?"

The water had stopped running, so Sigyn danced around Fenrir and Jormungandr's race to make her way down the hallway, knocking on the bedroom door.

"Are you decent, Loki?" Hel started to giggle in her mother's arms, but then the door opened and her father looked very tired.

"Sigyn? ...I am sorry, it has been a day..."

"Sweetheart, why don't you play with your brothers?" Sigyn set Hel down on her own two feet and the girl- blessed girl, so tactful for her age- nodded and wobbled down the hall, as Sigyn stepped past her husband and closed the door behind her.

Loki was dressed formally, all in black, and the shadows beneath his eyes seemed to be mimicking his attire.

"Love of mine, is something wrong?" Sigyn reached up to touch his jaw and Loki seemed to shrink an inch with the breaking of his posture. The moment Loki waited to speak Sigyn spent rubbing a soothing circle by his cheek, though the silence was unsettled by the children's chatter further into the house.

"I have a wake to attend, tonight." There were two intakes of breath, of Sigyn's shock and Loki's pause, "The head of a company that my father contracted. I should return, before too late..."

"No, take as much time as you need," Sigyn's voice was a murmur, and she wrapped her arms around her husband, "Would you like me to come with you? Phil could watch the children, you know how good he is..."

Loki shook his head slightly, his hands settled about Sigyn's back, "Stay with them, I would rather you stay..."

The word was a whisper, "Okay. Is... everything else okay?"

"I do not know."

It was rare to hear uncertainty from Loki and nearly frightening, at that. His grip tensed around Sigyn for a moment, head lain in the nape of her neck. Hel's soft, high voice had formed a trio with Fenrir and Jormungandr's, some minor quarrel apparently begun.

"She left a child, Sigyn. Barely a year old, and the father has refused custody."

_Oh._ Sigyn's heart pained and the children were running about again, footsteps thumping with occasional shrieks of delight.

"Are there any, any relatives? There must be someone-"

"There is not."

"_Oh_..."

* * *

Loki returned home to Sigyn awake, waiting for him that night.

"_Loki, there's something I'd like us to discuss..."_


End file.
